By Alex Lee

Copyright independent

It’s been three years since the AirPods Pro last had a refresh. While Apple rolled out the AirPods 4 last year, a big upgrade that pushed them closer to the Pro line than ever before, the ones everyone and their nan have been waiting for are the AirPods Pro 3.

Announced on Tuesday at the Apple event in Cupertino (alongside the iPhone 17 and Apple Watch Series 11), the AirPods Pro 3 will officially be released next week. But if you’re rocking a pair of AirPods Pro 2 and want better noise cancellation, new fitness features, or have a pair that are rapidly losing their charge, are Apple’s latest wireless earbuds worth the upgrade?

While I’m still waiting to get my hands on the earbuds themselves, I’ve pitted the AirPods Pro 2 head-to-head against the AirPods Pro 3 in terms of product specs to see what’s changed, what’s new, and whether they’re worth trading in your old pair for.

Why you can trust IndyBest

Alex Lee is a seasoned technology critic with years of extensive experience covering Apple news and reviews, from accessories like the brand’s Airtags to the best refurbished iPhone deals. His deep understanding of Apple’s design, hardware, and ecosystem makes him uniquely qualified to compare the specs of the new AirPods with the previous generation.

AirPods Pro 3 vs AirPods Pro 2: Design and fit

If you’re expecting a radical departure from the white-stemmed look of the AirPods Pro 2, you’ll be disappointed. The AirPods Pro 3 still look like AirPods, but there are some subtle changes that you won’t spot without taking a closer look.

For anyone who’s struggled with the fit in the past, Apple has slightly refined the shape so the buds sit more securely and feel more comfortable over longer listening sessions. Inside, Apple says the components have been re-engineered to make each earbud fractionally smaller and lighter, shifting the weight so they rest more naturally in your ears.

The biggest change is to the ear tips themselves. Previous AirPods Pro models used silicone tips. The AirPods Pro 3 now feature foam-infused ear tips. Apple says these expand slightly to create a tighter seal, which should boost both comfort and passive noise isolation. Apple includes five tip sizes in the box too, adding a new XXS option to cater for smaller ears.

As for the MagSafe charging case, it’s a little bit taller and wider than the AirPods Pro 2, but it’s slightly lighter at 44g versus the AirPods Pro 2’s 51g. Apple has also removed the physical pairing button on the back, just as it did with the AirPods 4, replacing it with a touch-sensitive pairing area.

Because of this extra depth, Apple’s managed to fit in a louder speaker for Find My tracking, and the case and buds are IP57 rated, meaning it’s dust-, sweat- and water-resistant.

Overall, if you found the AirPods Pro 2 a little loose or uncomfortable, the AirPods Pro 3 should have a better, more comfortable fit thanks to their smaller, lighter design and new foam-infused tips. The case is easier to track down too, thanks to the longer range and louder speaker. Both the buds and the case are more water and sweat resistant than the AirPods Pro 2.

AirPods Pro 3 vs AirPods Pro 2: Sound

While I love my AirPods Pro 2, they’re not the best-sounding earbuds you can find out there. That might be about to change with the AirPods Pro 3.

Apple has fine-tuned the sound on the AirPods Pro 3. Apple says its built a new acoustic design that’ll make your music feel a little wider and more spacious, with clearer vocals and a richer bass response. Adaptive EQ has been updated too, so the sound should adjust more closely to the fit of the buds in your ears.

This is one I’ll need to hear for myself because it’s so personal. You won’t really hear the difference in sound quality just by reading a few tech specs. Right now, the AirPods Pro 2 are fairly lively, but the AirPods Pro 3 should give sound greater depth and more clarity.

AirPods Pro 3 vs AirPods Pro 2: Active noise cancellation

I was surprised by this one. The AirPods Pro 2 already have the best active noise cancellation I’ve tried on any pair of earbuds. They cut out the roar of the railway next to my house, as well as background chatter in a café really effectively. The only times they ever struggled were with those sharper sounds.

Apple says the AirPods Pro 3’s active noise cancellation is twice as effective, which is a case of: I’ll need to hear it to believe it. According to Apple, the new foam-infused tips form a tighter seal in your ear, which provides more passive noise cancellation.

On top of that, the AirPods Pro 3 use upgraded ultra-low-noise microphones and improved audio processing to silence the world around you. The idea is that constant background sounds, like traffic, office chatter and the like or pushed even further into the background.

Transparency mode has been upgraded, too. On the AirPods Pro 2, your own voice could occasionally sound tinny, so Apple says it’s tuned the AirPods Pro 3’s transparency mode to sound more natural.

Ultimately, I think the AirPods Pro 2’s ANC is already fantastic, so it’ll be interesting to see how far the tech is pushed here.

AirPods Pro 3 vs AirPods Pro 2: Features

This is where I think the AirPods Pro 3 shine, but only in a very specific way. They’re more fitness-focused than ever. Thanks to a new built-in heart-rate sensor, the buds can track your pulse and calories burned during a workout, feeding live stats straight into the Fitness app. If you use Fitness+, you’ll even see those metrics onscreen while you exercise.

Apple says you can track up to 50 different workout types this way, from cycling and HIIT to yoga. There’s also a new “Workout Buddy” feature powered by Apple Intelligence, which gives you real-time encouragement and nudges based on your data. It’s a clever new trick that only the Pro 3 can pull off – the AirPods Pro 2 simply don’t have the hardware.

Apple also highlighted the live translation feature in the keynote, but don’t be fooled. This wasn’t new. The tech giant first showed this off at WWDC in June, and it’s not exclusive to the AirPods Pro 3. It’s also coming to both the AirPods Pro 2 and the AirPods 4 with iOS 26, so you won’t need to upgrade to get it.

You pop in your AirPods, speak in your own language, and your iPhone shows a live transcript in the other person’s language on-screen. If they reply, their words are translated back into yours, and you hear it through your AirPods. If both of you are wearing a pair of AirPods with the feature enabled, each person can speak in their own language and hear the translation instantly in their ears. Cool, yes, but not something worth upgrading to the AirPods Pro 3.

In fact, most of the other headline features are already on the AirPods Pro 2, or are coming to the AirPods Pro 2 when iOS 26 rolls out. Adaptive audio, which blends ANC and transparency modes to match your environment, and conversation awareness, which lowers your music when you start talking, both landed last year.

Siri interactions, personalised spatial audio, audio sharing and hearing health tools are all the same across the two models. Both the AirPods Pro 2 and AirPods Pro 3 have the same H2 chip, so you’ll get the same features on both sets of buds.

So, beyond fitness tracking, the feature set is identical. If you don’t care about seeing your heart rate in the middle of a workout, the AirPods Pro 2 will still give you every other feature, including live translation.

AirPods Pro 3 vs AirPods Pro 2: Battery

Battery life has seen improvements on the AirPods Pro 3. You get around six hours with noise cancellation turned on with the AirPods Pro 2, but Apple says you’ll now get up to eight hours with ANC, or 10 hours if you’re using transparency mode – that’s 67 per cent longer, which is great for those who need transparency on all the time. Even with heart-rate tracking switched on during a workout, Apple says you’re still looking at about six and a half hours.

Interestingly, the AirPods Pro 3 case doesn’t hold as much juice as the AirPods Pro 2, however. While the AirPods Pro 3 will last longer in your ears, the case won’t provide as much of a top-up. The AirPods Pro 2 case provides up to 30 extra hours, but the AirPods Pro 3’s case only provides an extra 24 hours.

AirPods Pro 3 vs AirPods Pro 2: Price

Here’s where it gets really interesting. The AirPods Pro 3 cost just £219 in the UK. That’s less than the AirPods Pro 2 at launch.

When the AirPods Pro 2 were released in the UK in 2022, they cost £249. Apple then re-launched the AirPods Pro 2 in 2023 with a USB-C charging case and cut the price down to £229. Even then, the AirPods Pro 3 undercut that price by £10.

If you’re choosing whether to buy a pair of AirPods Pro 2 now or get a pair of AirPods Pro 3, you get more bang for your buck by going for the AirPods Pro 3. Amazon, however, has already slashed the price of the AirPods Pro 2 to £199.

AirPods Pro 3 vs AirPods Pro 2: Is it worth the upgrade?

If you already own a pair of AirPods Pro 2 and they’re still holding their charge, you probably don’t need to rush out to upgrade. Most of the features Apple shouted about in the keynote, such as live translation, aren’t exlcusive to the Pro 3 – you’ll get that feature too.

There are three reasons why you might want to upgrade though. If you want better sound, stronger noise cancellation and fitness features. Apple says that vocals will come across clearer, bass is richer and there’s a wider soundstage. ANC is twice as strong as well.

The fitness features are what intrigues me most, and are the main reason why I’d choose to upgrade. There’s a new built-in heart-rate sensor for tracking calories, workouts and a better fit for exercise. Battery life has also been improved, so you get eight hours instead of six, though the case itself holds less charge. But the best part might be the price – they’re cheaper than the older AirPods Pro 2, despite the upgraded tech.

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